October is upon us! And although it’s the spooky season, we can’t help but start to feel nostalgic for classic movies during this time of year. We’re thinking of Dirty Dancing specifically, and it’s a good thing we have a modern retelling to read in the meantime: Jasmine Guillory’s YA debut with It’s Only Dancing!
This contemporary rom-com follows 17-year-old Katherine “Kat” Woods-Jones, who’s forced to spend the summer before her senior year at a campsite with her parents and little sister. She’d much rather be working on her college application essays and not think about dancing, which she quit two years ago.
As fate would have it, Katherine can’t leave dance behind forever. She might even rekindle her love for it with the help of Jordan, the handsome hip-hop dance instructor. With a diverse cast and a plus-size protagonist, It’s Only Dancing won us over within the first chapter. Here are three reasons why we love it!
Book Overview: It’s Only Dancing
Content warnings: mentions of fatphobia and body shaming, homophobia
Summary: It’s the summer before her senior year of high school and Kat (Kitty to her family) planned to spend it reading good books, working on her college applications, and enjoying her independence. Instead, she’s stuck for an entire month with her family at a camp in the desert in Southern California.
When she stumbles across a staff party on the first night, she’s jealous of their joyful, uninhibited dancing. She hasn’t danced like that since two years ago, when she was forced to quit ballet, which she once loved more than anything. She’s determined to leave dance where it belongs—the past.
But Jordan, the handsome and magnetic hip-hop dance instructor, keeps dragging it into her present. As Kat begins sneaking around and lying to her parents to spend time with Jordan, she’ll have to ask herself—what is she willing to risk to finally feel free? And is it possible her feelings for Jordan could reignite her love for dance?
Katherine’s Growth
Kat’s relationship with dance ebbs and flows throughout this novel. At first, she’s adamant on not dancing altogether. That is, until she finds herself wanting to help Toni, one of the camp’s dance instructors. As she goes outside of her comfort zone, Kat quickly learns to do a full hip-hop routine. She finds freedom in expressing herself in ways that she couldn’t do before in ballet. Though Kat struggles with fixating on her mistakes rather than what went well, she later learns to give herself grace and to be proud of herself. Not to mention how short of a window she had to learn an entirely new dance style and a choreography.
Healthy Parenting
Another thing we love about It’s Only Dancing is the portrayal of real, healthy parenting and co-parenting. Adolescence is such a tumultuous time, especially when you feel like your parents are smothering you. But thanks to the summer camp, Kat and her sister Ella actually have independent time away from their parents. And when Kat needed her parents most, she didn’t hesitate to call them and tell them the truth from the beginning. Their reactions to her sneaking out and teenage tomfoolery had us fully crying because it isn’t every day we read a book that just gets what we need to read (or at least, our younger selves).
Inclusivity & Activism
Finally, we absolutely love the diversity, inclusivity, and activism in this novel. With Black characters, Black joy, LGBTQIA+ characters, and positive queer representation in the form of drag story times, this book was a delight to read. It doesn’t shy away from real issues of homophobia, fatphobia, police brutality, racism, and workers’ rights either. The author incorporates them with great care and sensitivity. We love how Kat and her family band together by the end for a cause they truly believe in. And it’s these remarkable examples of activism and diversity that can spark great changes in readers of all ages.
Not only is Jasmine Guillory’s It’s Only Dancing a delightful contemporary YA rom-com, but it’s also a healing story of rekindling old passions and a shining example of diversity and activism.
It’s Only Dancing by Jasmine Guillory comes out October 6th, and you can order a copy of it here!
What do you think of Jasmine Guillory’s YA debut with It’s Only Dancing? Have you read any of her other titles? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Want to hear some of our audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!
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